lingerfelt



1956 w. c. LINGERFELT ALARM FOR ALUM FEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct.20, 1952 INVENTOR felt ATTORNEY United States Patent ALARM FOR ALUMFEEDER Will C. Liugerfelt, Morristown, Tenn., assignor to American EnkaCorporation, Enka, N. C., a corporation of Delaware Application October20, 1952, Serial No. 315,691

4 Claims. (Cl. 340-239) This invention relates to the addition ofcontrolled amounts of solid material to a liquid and, more particularly,to an alarm device for detecting and announcing stoppage in the flow ofa particulate solid material being fed to a liquid.

In the art of water purification, it is frequently necessary to add alumin measured quantities in order to precipitate out mud and other solidcontaminants. One way in which this may be accomplished is to feedcontinuously small quantities of alum from a shaker container into amixer vessel containing the water to be treated. In the event there is astoppage in the flow of alum from the shaker container to the water, thedosage is incorrect and serious consequences may result.

There are, of course, a great many devices known to the art fordetecting stoppage in the flow of a solid material. Most of thesedevices, however, are located in the feed line and there is always thepossibility that stoppage will occur between the location of theindicating device and the discharge outlet. It is, therefore, an objectof this invention to provide a highly reliable means for detectingstoppage in the flow of a solid being added to a liquid for admixturetherewith regardless of where the stoppage actually occurs.

According to the present invention it is proposed to provide a targetwithin the mixing area and to supply the material to be added to thattarget in such a way that interruption in the supply of the solid to thetarget will result in an alarm.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentupon consideration of the following detailed description thereof inconjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure l is a view partially in vertical section and partially in sideelevation of an alum mixing tank equipped with an alarm device accordingto the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus of Figure 1;and

Figure 3 is a view partially in elevation and partially in verticalsection of the top of the tank of Figure 1 taken from a position 90 awayfrom the viewing position of Figure 1.

In the drawings the numeral designates a mixing tank of glass orporcelain. The water to be treated is introduced into and withdrawn fromthis tank by instrumentalities not shown. The alum to be mixed with thewater in the tank 10 is fed from a shaker, not shown, through a chute 11located at the top of the tank. The chute 11 is roughly half round incross section as can be seen upon reference to Figure 2. The alum fedthrough the chute 11 falls through an unconfined path to the Water levelin the tank. In the unconfined path of fall, there is located a target12 in the form of a bell or inverted funnel having thereoncircumferential ridges at 13 and 14. It can be seen, therefore, that thealum, falling vertically from the chute 11, will strike the target and,because of the ridges 13 and 14, will be held thereby to a considerableextent. Thus, during operation, the weight of the target 12 is increasedby the weight of the alum thereon. With this in mind, the target issupported in position by a lever 15 which is in the form of a bent rodof glass or metal anchored to the target at one end and at the other endpivotally mounted at 16 to a switch assembly frame 17. A spring 18acting in tension is attached to the rod 15 close to the pivot 16 butbetween that pivot and the target 12, and that spring acts to hold thetarget 12, when it has its normal weight, in the desired positionvertically below the bottom of the chute 11. On the other hand, the biasof the spring 18 is such that the target 11 when free of alum and hencebelow normal weight, is moved in an anti-clockwise are a small distanceaway from the position shown in Figure 1.

It will be noted from Figure 1 that the rod 15 has a substantiallyvertical portion depending from the pivot at 16 and a sloping portionextending to the target. A tube 19 is positioned within the cover of thetank 10 and that tube lies in alignment with the sloping portion of therod 15. The tube 19 is so located that its lower end is immediatelyadjacent the bend in the rod 15 so that water issuing from the tube 19will flow along the sloping portion of the rod 15 and bathe the target12. The Wet surface of the target 12 causes a certain amount of alum toadhere to the target and thus increase its weight. By this arrangementwater is supplied through the tube 19 at a rate which washes the alumoff the target 12 about as fast as the alum is supplied to the targetthrough the chute 11. The normal amount of water on the target, thenormal amount of alum on the target and the weight of the target itselfcounter-balance the pull of the spring 18 and hold the target in theFigure 1 position except when there is a deviation from normal weight.If, however, there is an interruption in the flow of alum in the chute11 or anywhere in the feed system thereabove, the existing alum isquickly washed off the target by the water continuously supplied throughthe tube 19, then the normal total weight of the target will bedecreased enough so that the spring will be able to move the targetslightly in an anti-clockwise direction. To take advantage of thismovement there is an electric contact switch 20 in the box 19. Thisswitch is spring biased to circuit closing position and is held incircuit open position by the end of rod 15 above the pivot at 16 whenthe target is in the Figure 1 position. On the other hand, when the alumis washed off of the target 12 and the target is moved by the action ofthe spring 18, the upper end of rod 15 moves counterclockwise andreleases the switch 20 which then closes a circuit which may include anysort of an audible or visual alarm diagrammatically indicated at 21.

The details or" the switch 20 are only shown schematically since theswitch itself and the alarm in circuit therewith form, per se, no partof the present invention. Nevertheless, a schematic alarm is designatedat 21. The cord 22 is the power cord for supplying current to the alarm21, through the switch 20.

i t is apparent that various modifications of the present invention liewithin the scope thereof and that the type of alarm and its position maybe varied depending upon operating conditions.

What is claimed is:

1. An alarm device for announcing variation from normal in the flow of asolid material that comprises means to discharge solid material, atarget, means balancing said target in the discharge path of saidmaterial, means to supply a fluid to remove solid material from saidtarget at a rate commensurate with the normal rate of delivery of solidmaterial thereto so that the target has a substantially constant weightof material thereon during normal operation, and means responsive tounbalance of said target to actuate an alarm.

2. An alarm device for announcing failure in the feed of solid materialthat comprises means to discharge solid material, a target in thedischarge path of said material, means to supply a fluid to remove solidmaterial from said target at a rate commensurate with the rate ofdelivery of solid material thereto so that the target has asubstantially constant weight of material thereon during normaloperation, and means responsive to reduction in weight of material ontarget below said substantially constant value to actuate an alarm.

3. An alarm device for announcing failure in the'feed of a solidmaterial that comprises a container, a solid material feed chute forcontinuously discharging solid material into said container, a target,means movably balancing said target in the path of the materialdischarged into saidcontainer, means to wash material continuously fromsaid target into said container, the target having a substantiallyconstant weight of material thereon during normal operation, and meansactuated in response tion in weight of material thereon to actuate analarm.

4. An alarm device for announcing failure in the feed of alum to aliquid purification system that comprises, a liquid container, an alumdelivery chute for continuously discharging into the top of saidcontainer, a conical target, means resiliently balancing the target inthe container vertically below the delivery chute and in the path of thealum, means to bathe the target continuously to Wash the alum therefrominto the tank, the target having a substantially constant Weight of alumthereon during normal operation, and means actuated by said suspendingmeans in response to unbalance of said target incident to reduction inweight of alum on said target to actuate an alarm.

Glynn et a1. July 21, 1914 Parisi Oct. 16,1951

1. AN ALARM DEVICE FOR ANNOUNCING VARIATION FROM NORMAL IN THE FLOW OF A SOLID MATERIAL THAT COMPRISES MEANS TO DISCHARGE SOLID MATERIAL, A TARGET, MEANS BALANCING SAID TARGET IN THE DISCHARGE PATH OF SAID MATERIAL, MEANS TO SUPPLY A FLUID TO REMOVE SOLID MATERIAL FROM SAID TARGET AT A RATE COMMENSURATE WITH THE NORMAL RATE OF DELIVERY OF SOLID MATERIAL THERETO SO THAT THE TARGET HAS A SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT WEIGHT OF MATERIAL THEREON DURING NORMAL OPERATION, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO UNBALANCE OF SAID TARGET TO ACTUATE AN ALARM. 